Full Text of Arnold Schwarzenegger's Speech to State Republican Convention--What Do You Think?

Also here is our new Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner. What a great victory he had in November and we all know the fantastic work he is doing. And Michelle Park Steel, our new Board of Equalization member. Talk about a great immigrant success story.

With her election in November, Michelle became the highest-ranking elected Korean-American politician in the nation. We are all very proud of Michelle. I also want to thank our great county and local leaders and the thousands of volunteers who have worked tirelessly for me and the party for the past three years.

I have visited many of our county headquarters so I know firsthand all the people who worked day and night to help us win. Making the extra phone calls. Putting up all the yard signs. Knocking on all the doors and getting people to vote. We had 60,000 Volunteers and they were the foot soldiers for our party. So let's have a big round of applause for all the great volunteers.

Since I first ran for governor I have always enjoyed working with you on the many issues that affect the lives of our fellow Californians. And as I said when we met a year ago, we may not always agree on every single issue but I will always have your best interests in my heart as I govern this great state.

As we continue to move California forward I am sometimes asked about my Republican values. And I always say, with no hesitation I am a proud Republican. A proud member of the party of Abraham Lincoln and the values of everyone having an equal opportunity to reach the American dream. A proud member of the party of Teddy Roosevelt and the values of protecting the environment and our economy. And a proud member of the party of Ronald Reagan and the values of individual responsibility and personal freedom.

In fact, it was Ronald Reagan who best described our party when he addressed a similar Republican convention in Long Beach 40 years ago. "Within our tent," he said, "there will be many arguments and divisions over approach and method ... "But if our philosophy is to prevail, we must at least pledge unified support of the ultimate decision." That is because as Republicans we may have diverse opinions but we always stand together on our core Republican values. And I always stand strong and proud for low taxes a great business climate safe neighborhoods a state that lives within its means and people achieving the American Dream through hard work, personal responsibility and following the rules.

You sent me to Sacramento to solve the state's fiscal crisis and to fix the big problems that had been neglected for decades and we have had some great success. We brought California back from the brink of bankruptcy. We eliminated the net operating deficit. We continue to pay down our debt. Our revenues are at an all-time high.

Our economy is growing and we have our lowest unemployment rate in 30 years. And all of this without raising taxes. We reformed workers comp which was the poison of our economy, pumping $13 billion a year back into the hands of business owners. And they used that money to expand their businesses buy new equipment and hire more workers. That has helped create nearly 700,000 new jobs in little more than three years. And now that California's economy is pumping all 12 cylinders again people have faith in the future. They want to invest in it.

As a matter of fact last November they voted overwhelmingly for all of our Infrastructure Bonds. They said yes to our plans to build the roads schools fixing our levees and other infrastructure. California needs to stay number one in the nation.

Of course, not all the problems are solved. There is still work to be done. We need above-ground water storage so our state and economy can continue to grow. We need additional prison beds. I laid out all of these plans in my State of the State speech and I won't rest until California gets what it needs.

I also pledged in that speech that as we move forward on all of these Infrastructure Projects we will make sure our money will be spent wisely. That is why I signed my executive order on Strategic Growth Plan Accountability and Transparency. And I am glad that Senator Ackerman and Assemblyman Villines are solidly behind that effort.

I also intend to bring that same type of transparency and accountability to education. I am proud that we are spending a record $56.8 billion on Education this year but we also must have accountability. I will work with the Legislature to make sure parents can get quick answers on the Internet about their local schools.

For instance, how much money goes into the classroom? Does a school offer after-school programs, music, arts and P.E? What is their graduation rate? The drop-out rate? All of this information should be available to parents so they can make intelligent choices about their children's school and hold those schools accountable.

In public safety we are working to fully implement Jessica's Law and make sure that we protect our children from those who would prey on them. I have also laid out a comprehensive plan to fix the mess we inherited in our prisons. And let me be very clear.

We will build new prisons and we will solve this problem without allowing dangerous criminals to go free. That will not happen on my watch. That's why we are sending prisoners out of state. Of course, some people say we shouldn't send prisoners out of state involuntarily. They say we need their consent. They didn't get consent when they robbed someone. They didn't get consent when they raped someone. They didn't get consent when they kidnapped someone. They didn't get consent when they murdered some innocent victim. So let me tell you we will continue to send inmates out of state if they volunteer or not.

Now, in my State of the State address I talked about the importance of health care reform. We must fix our broken health care system that is a drain on businesses and hard-working Californians and it has to be fixed once and for all. We have to end the crisis in our emergency rooms which get stuck treating the 6.5 million uninsured. We have to make sure everyone has insurance so hospitals and doctors don't get left with billions of dollars in unpaid bills that eventually get passed on to the rest of us.

We have to end the hidden tax that we all pay to cover the uninsured in higher premiums higher deductibles higher co-pays and higher out-of-pocket expenses. That hidden tax costs California businesses a staggering $14.7 billion a year and I will fight to lower that tax. And we have to stop the double-digit increases for health care that businesses experience every year. Just like we did with workers comp we have to fix the system bring down costs and make health care more affordable and more accessible for everyone.

And let me tell you there is fantastic energy in our Capitol to get this done this year. Republicans and Democrats want to fix it. Health care is not the only challenge of our ambitious agenda for 2007. We will continue to protect the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions and by reducing our dependence on foreign oil.

This will help strengthen our national security and continue to spark investment in California's future.

Just last week, for example, BP announced it was investing $500 million to create the world's first research lab for alternative fuels at UC Berkeley. They checked all over the world and they chose California because they love our commitment to clean energy and protecting our environment. My friends, we are getting results through cooperation and finding middle ground but we will never discard our core Republican values. And believe me, the public is noticing.

Three years ago, polls showed nearly 75 percent of voters thought California was heading in the wrong direction. Now two-thirds of the public say they feel good about our state and that California is heading in the right direction. People are optimistic and have faith in the future. And that becomes contagious.

Believing that tomorrow will be better than today is the heart of Republican philosophy. It is the heart of my philosophy. If we are smart and keep working hard anything is possible. That is what Republicans are all about. That is what my administration is all about. And that is what California is all about.

Thank you very much.